"He moved like a man lost in the world, lost in time." Chapter 1, p. 7

"I like it here. I hope the tide comes and gets me." Chapter 2, p. 10

"I caught an oblique glimpse of myself as a middle-aged man on the make." Chapter 3, p. 14

"They were one of those couples who couldn't pull together. The energy of their marriage passed back and forth between them like an alternating current that shocked and paralyzed." Chapter 5, p. 29

"His eyes reflected a facile sympathy, but it soon faded. There seemed to be a restless movement behind them, a constant turning in his head like an occulting light." Chapter 12, p. 66

"She moved back against me. Then she stood very still as if she had frightened herself. I put my hands on her." Chapter 13, p. 78

"There were violent noises somewhere in the back which sounded to my recently sensitized ears like somebody beating...